Aug 7 Open thread—Manafort-palooza!

Now, Gates, obviously, is no angel. But he's also no fool. And he has the receipts. I don't envy his position: stay mum, and spend years in jail, or rat out the boss, and maybe get a poison cocktail from the Russian mob.

All this could have been avoided if Donald Trump's ego had been a smidge tinier. There was no rational reason for him to run for the presidency, other than "the black guy did it, so it can't be that hard." As Rick Wilson says, "everything Trump touches dies." In the case of Gates, this might become a literal reality.

But, such is what happens when ego overrides rationality. Eventually we will see actual deaths in Trump's circle due to miffed mobsters. I really don't care, do u?